The Exchange District is shaping up as Madison Avenue North, with many creative firms setting up shop in the historic neighbourhood. Among the local “Mad Men” located downtown is Peter George, CEO of McKim Cringan George, the largest full-service advertising agency in Winnipeg.

“I’d classify what we do as anything involved in the business of persuasion,” he says, citing the creative work done for a broad range of international, national and regional clients by MCG’s 35 employees at its Winnipeg headquarters as well as its Regina branch office.

The Winnipeg Foundation started in 1921 with a $100,000 donation from a man who said he owed his good fortune to living in the city and wanted it to benefit from the gains he had made. Three years later, the foundation received its second donation. It was for $15.

“That second gift was much different from the first, but it was the one that really set the base for our values as an accessible community foundation in which everyone can participate in building a better future,” says Richard Frost, CEO of The Winnipeg Foundation.

The attraction and retention of key talent is an important component of an organization’s overall success. That’s why successful organizations consider all of the elements of a total rewards program when communicating with prospective or current employees.

Total rewards, frequently referred to as total compensation, are the tools that make up the employee value proposition. In other words, total rewards include everything that an employee perceives to be of value. Essentially, an employer provides rewards that its employees value in exchange for their employees’ time, talent, effort and, of course, results.

In a recent workplace survey, 56 per cent of Canadian employers identified mental-health claims as their top health and productivity-related issue, yet only 32 per cent said they are likely to implement programs to address the issue. A mere five per cent indicated they planned to tackle the stigma associated with anxiety and depression in the workplace.